FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 23, 2018

Ditmas Park Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Fatally Stabbing Wife

Defendant Repeatedly Stabbed Victim in Neck and Chest Following Argument

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 60-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison following his conviction of first-degree manslaughter for stabbing his 47-year-old wife in the neck and chest after a dispute.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “With today’s sentence the defendant has been held responsible for the vicious and deadly stabbing of his wife. He not only took an innocent woman’s life, but also deprived their 25-year-old son of a mother and father as he will now be incarcerated for many years.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Clairmont Donald, 60, of Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew D’Emic to 20 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision following his guilty plea to first-degree manslaughter last month.

The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on September 26, 2016, at 5:45 p.m. at 422 East 17th Street, a neighbor and close friend of the defendant’s wife, Hannah Donald, heard her screaming. When the neighbor opened the front door of her apartment, the defendant was walking in the hallway of the building towards the stairs. The neighbor followed the defendant down the stairs and outside of the apartment building, where she saw Hannah Donald on the steps of the building bleeding profusely from stab wounds to her neck and chest.

An ambulance arrived and took the victim to Kings County Hospital. The victim told both her neighbor and an ambulance attendant that she was stabbed by the defendant. A knife was recovered from inside of her apartment.

The defendant was arrested a few hours later at the Cortelyou Road train station. According to the officers who apprehended him, he was severely intoxicated.

The victim underwent surgery at the hospital, but later died of her injuries. At the time of the incident, there were three active orders of protections against the defendant.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Sabeeha Madni, of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michele Kaminsky, Bureau Chief.